ECSU student’s remains found; suspect charged

The Connecticut State Police confirmed Saturday, May 18, 2013, that the human remains discovered in a wooded area in Trumbull have been identified as missing student Alyssiah Marie Wiley.Handout photo courtesy Connecticut State Police

Published May 18. 2013 10:00AM

Updated May 18. 2013 11:47PM

Day staff

Publication: theday.com

State police have charged a Bridgeport man with the murder of Alyssiah M. Wiley, the Eastern Connecticut State University student whose body was found in Trumbull Friday.

Jermaine V. Richards, 30, turned himself in to state police at 3 p.m. Saturday at Troop G in Bridgeport. He was charged with murder and first-degree kidnapping and was held in lieu of a $2 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on Monday.

Earlier Saturday, state police said that the body discovered in a wooded area in Trumbull had been identified as 20-year-old Wiley, who was reported missing from the Willimantic campus on April 24.

State troopers and search-and-rescue and cadaver dogs found the remains while searching a wooded area off Quarry Road in Trumbull, state police said.

The Connecticut State Forensic Lab in Meriden used DNA to identify the remains, state police said. The office of the Chief State's Medical Examiner will conduct a post-mortem examination to determine the manner and cause of death.

State police had obtained an arrest warrant for Richards and a search warrant for his home at 115 Beardsley Park Terrace in Bridgeport, and had seized items there as evidence.

State Police Eastern District and Western District major crime squads and missing persons units conducted the criminal investigation.

In a May 2, 2013, Day file photo, Corrinna Martin, left, the mother of missing Eastern Connecticut State University student Alyssiah Marie Wiley, joins a press conference with her family to plead for information. The Connecticut State Police confirmed Saturday, May 18, 2013, that the remains found in a wooded area in Trumbull were those of the missing student.Izaskun E. Larraņeta/The Day file photo